Chapter Twenty-Two

I never leave Faith's side for the next three weeks. The doctors tell me she's in a coma and aren't sure if she'll ever wake up. I convinced Giles and the doctors in Scotland to transfer her to a private clinic in Cleveland just so we'd be closer to home.

The last month has been chaotic. It's played on every last bit of my heart, mind, body and soul. The crossroads I've reached before, I've passed and made my choice on which path to take. Faith. I can't leave her side. I don't want to not be here when she finally wakes up. Despite what the doctors say, I know she'll wake up.

"Buff?" Xander says softly from the doorway. "You hungry?"

"Starved," I reply as I turn to him and let go of Faith's hand. "What'd you bring me?"

"Big Mac," he laughs as he grabs a chair and joins me at the side of her bed. "Any change?"

"No. Nothing."

Xander frowns as he hands me the bag and I place it on the small nightstand. The steady beep of the heart monitor sounds and I close my eyes as I reach for her hand again, gently intertwining our fingers.

"Giles and I were talking earlier about Falken," he says quietly and I turn to look at him. "He still can't get over how easy it was for Rona to kill him."

"It wasn't that easy. It was timing and luck, that's all," I reply and I look over at Faith. "Not all of us got lucky though."

"She'll come through and wake up soon, Buff."

"I know."

"Have you talked to Satsu at all lately?"

"No, not a word. I called and left her a message. I apologized to her for the way things ended between us. It's the least I could do after all the two of us have been through, right?"

Xander nods and places a hand on my shoulder and gives it a gentle squeeze. "It's not your fault you fell in love with Faith. One day Satsu will realize that you falling in love with Faith was inevitable."

"I don't want to lose her completely, Xand. We had something great together there's no denying that. She and I were together for three years. It's hard just to think that it's completely over now."

"What do you think will happen when Faith wakes up? You two gonna give it a shot?"

I shrug as I stroke my thumb over hers. "I don't know. I hope so. A lot has changed, Xand."

"No shit," he chuckles. "My best friend has turned into a girly-loving woman and I didn't see it all until what, a month ago? It's all so very shocking, but," he smiles at me brightly as he leans in for a half hug. "You know I'll always love you no matter who you are with, Buff. As long as they make you happy. It's all I ever want for you is to be happy and in love. Even if it is with Miss. Coma here."

I laugh and lightly slug him in the shoulder. The smile fades as I look back down at Faith. I can't stand to see her like this and even though she's been deemed perfectly healthy by the doctors, I know she has a long road ahead of her as soon as she wakes up from this coma. A road I'm definitely going to be with her every step of the way whether she wants me to or not. I'm not going to let her stubborn ways stop me from being with her and even if she tries to push me away, I'm not going to let her do it. I'm far too in love with her to let her go and give up that easily and I think she knows that too.

These last three weeks have given me far too much time to think about well, everything. Even if Falken didn't slightly interfere with our lives when he did, I know we would have been on the same path. Some things just happen no matter what else is going on. Call it fate, destiny, whatever it is, it's just meant to be. Just like I know that Faith and I are meant to be and it's taken us years to get to this point. It's taken me a long time just to figure out what she means to me and I almost wish I figured this out a long time ago. Things would be so much different right now if I had. I just have to keep reminding myself that Faith isn't exactly the best relationship material and that even if we do have a relationship together, it's going to be a long, hard road to perfection. A road that's going to take a lot of patience and understanding.

"You want me to stay for a little bit, keep you company?"

"I'm good, Xander," I smile at him. "Thanks for bringing me something to eat. I appreciate it."

"Wish you'd come home for dinner. You can't live off fast-food forever."

"I don't want to leave her," I say softly. "I want to be here when she wakes up."

"I know. She'll wake up soon."

"I hope so."

Xander gives me a gentle kiss on the forehead before he leaves. He smiles back at me before he shuts the door quietly behind him, leaving me to be alone with Faith yet again. I bring her hand I'm holding to my lips and kiss her knuckles softly before placing her hand back down on the bed and grabbing the bag off the nightstand. I walk over to the window and look outside, biting into the warm Big Mac as my stomach growls rather loudly.

I savour the food, eating it slowly despite how starving I really am right now. I look over at Faith as the sun breaks out from behind the clouds and streams in through the many windows in the room. She's really pale and thin, but I still think she's as beautiful as ever. I hear a soft groan and I'm instantly at her side, hoping that maybe she's waking up this time. The doctors had warned me that she might make slight movements and sounds but it doesn't mean she'll wake up.

"Faith?" I whisper as I take her hand in mine and sit down in the chair beside the bed. "Baby, are you gonna open your eyes for me today?"

Silence. The steady beep of the heart monitor is almost deafening as I pray to whatever gods and goddess are out there along with the Powers that Be to let her wake up today.

"I need you to wake up, baby," I whisper as I lean in and gently kiss her forehead. "Please wake up, baby, I can't stand it anymore."

"Baby?" Faith croaks and my heart clenches, my eyes filling up with tears. "Since when do ya call me 'baby', B?"

"Faith?"

"That's better," she chuckles dryly as she opens her eyes, blinking rapidly as her eyes adjust to the light. "Fuck, how long I been knocked out for? Couple days?"

"Just about three weeks now."

"Shit."

I'm blinking through the tears as she tries to sit up. Maybe the prayers did work. I reach for the jug of water on the bedside table and pour her a glass, helping her drink from it slowly.

"What happened to Falken? You kill the bastard yet for gutting me?"

"Rona did," I reply as I place the empty glass on the table and lean in and kiss her lightly on the lips, unable to resist. "I've wanted to do that for the last three weeks."

"Bet you wanted to do a lot more than that," she chuckles and I'm relieved to see her sense of humour is still there despite having just woken up from yet another coma. "We in Scotland still?"

"No. We're in a private care facility in Cleveland. I convinced the doctors in Scotland to have you brought here. Giles paid for all the costs in getting you here."

"Gonna have to thank him," Faith says and she takes a deep breath. "Don't you think you should tell the doctors I'm awake now?"

"Can't I have you to myself for a couple of minutes?"

"Sure can," she laughs. "Have you been here this whole time, B?"

"Haven't left your side since Falken knocked you out."

"What about that little girl? And Andrew?"

"The girl's name is Janie and she's fine. We got her back home to her family in London. Andrew is back in Italy, doing his thing, whatever that is."

"Ogling the girls he's watching over probably," Faith chuckles and she takes another deep breath and lifts up her hospital gown. "Two scars, side by side. Huh. How bad was it?"

"Bad. You lost a lot of blood. Doctor's thought for sure you should've died before we got you to the hospital. I was so scared I was going to lose you, Faith."

"I ain't goin' out that easy, B. Not when I got something worth living for now."

She pulls me onto the bed and our lips meet for a deep, passionate kiss. I can't stop my tears from falling and she pulls back and gently wipes them away with her thumbs. She doesn't say anything; she only smiles as she leans back in and lightly presses her lips against mine. I get up from the bed as soon as a handful of doctors come in to check up on Faith, all of them completely surprised to see her awake and sitting up in bed.

I let them do their job as they check her vitals, test her reflexes and ask her a million questions. She seems annoyed with all the poking and probing, but she lets them do their job and asks them if they could leave us alone so she can rest. One of her doctors pulls me to the side and asks me how long she's been awake for. I tell them it'd only been a few minutes before they came in and I ask him how long it'll be before she's released. I don't get a direct answer, but I'm told he'll let me know as soon as they run a few tests and make sure she doesn't fall back into her coma.

Once the doctors leave us alone, Faith pats the bed next to her and I sit down and take both her hands in mine. The colour has come back to her skin and you'd never know she'd just spent the last three weeks in a coma she was never supposed to wake up from. She's strong, she's a Slayer, and she's all mine. At least I hope she is. She wiggles her eyebrows as she leans in for a soft kiss. When her tongue trails over my lips and a hand finds its way under my shirt and over my breast, I laugh against her lips and know I just cannot wait until she's back home with me where she belongs.

Three days pass before Faith is released from the private care facility. The last three days have felt longer than the last three weeks. The farmhouse is nearly ready, but it'll be another month before we can move in there. I tell her all about the plans Xander has for the house on the long drive home. She's not paying attention to a word I'm saying either, her hands quickly finding their way under the flowing skirt I'm wearing. Xander is having a hard time keeping his attention on the road and I have to fight her to keep her hands from roaming in naughty places.

"Faith, stop," I say under my breath as the tips of her fingers trail over the edge of my panties. "Xander is right there."

"So? Not like he can see what I'm about to do to ya," she whispers into my ear, her fingers sliding past the barriers of my panties and brushing lightly over my aching clit. I clamp my thighs shut, trapping her hand as Xander coughs and nearly swerves off the road. "Hey Xander, keep your eye on the road, dude. Last thing I need is to get put in another coma."

He coughs again as he keeps his focus on the road ahead of us. We're almost home and I cannot wait to get Faith alone in my room and have my naughty little way with her. The last three days have been torture and I know she's thinking the same thing as I am right now. Doesn't take much to know that she is with her hand trapped in my panties and all right now.

"How are you feeling right now?" I ask her and I pull her hand out from my panties and smooth my skirt out.

"Horny."

"Faith..."

"What? Just bein' honest here, B."

"The doctors told you that you need to take it easy for a couple of days."

"I'm a Slayer, baby! Ain't no little coma gonna make me slow and take it easy for a couple of days!"

"Yes, but it wouldn't hurt to spend a couple of days recuperating in bed," I say with a wink and Xander slams on the breaks, nearly missing the driveway.

"Smooth move, Xand," Faith mutters as she opens the door and hops out of the car. She holds her hand out towards me and I laugh as I let her lead me out of the back seat. "What are the chances of slipping up to your room unnoticed by the others?"

"Slim to none," I say as I point the Willow, Kennedy, Dawn, and Giles standing on the front porch.

"Fuck me."

"Later, baby," I laugh softly and she raises an eyebrow in mild amusement.

"Damn if I'd known going into another coma would get me the girl, I would've knocked myself out years ago!" Faith laughs as she heads up towards the house. "You gonna tell everyone?"

"I think they already know," I say softly as I squeeze her hand. "No more lies. No more hiding who I am. I made a promise to myself as soon as I knew you were going to live that I wouldn't let anything stop me from getting what I want and being happy."

"And I'm what you want? Are you sure, B? Once you have me, there are no refunds."

I smile and kiss her lightly on the cheek. So much has changed over the last three days. It's given us time to really talk about everything. There's still so much I don't know about her and there's still a lot of doubt that this whole relationship with her is going to fall apart one way or another, but I'm not going to give up or allow myself to be afraid of this. And when she told me that she wanted to be with me, that she isn't comfortable saying that she loves me yet, I knew I wouldn't let her go. I keep getting this feeling deep down that this is it and that it's going to be a long, bumpy road before we find a perfect level of happiness together.

"Welcome home, Faith," Giles says with a smile as he hugs her tight. "I cannot tell you how happy I am that you've pulled through this ordeal so quickly."

"Thanks, G."

"Come on, Rachel has cooked up a storm inside," Giles says with a smile. "We've all been anxiously waiting for you to come home."

Faith looks a little overwhelmed. I know she isn't used to being embraced with open arms by all of us like this. I lead her inside, the others following close behind and I smile to myself when she grips tightly onto my hand and stops me before we reach the kitchen.

"Buffy, you sure I'm not in that coma still?"

"I'm sure."

"Are you really sure, 'cause I don't know why, but it feels like I'm dreaming. How'd everything get to be like this?"

"I don't know, but I'm not complaining."

"Damn," she laughs as she shakes her head. "Talk about life changing so quickly you don't have time to soak it all in. Is it always gonna be like this?"

"I don't know. Life is pretty unpredictable."

"Like this?" Faith asks as she motions between us. "Just sayin' that this happening between you and me has been the most unpredictable thing I've ever experienced. How'd we go from like, not even being friends to this anyway, B?"

"I don't know," I shrug. "Are you complaining?"

"Hell no, just tryin' to figure it out is all. Tryin' to figure out how you can be so...okay with this too."

"Let's just say I started to see things more clearly over the last month. And you know something, Faith? I'm glad you aren't pushing me away. I'm glad you see how different it can be for us."

"Gonna take some work, but I think I'll be able to get this whole one woman...woman deal down," she says with a smile and wraps her arms around me, both of us ignoring the looks we're getting from the others right now. "You got some pretty powerful mojo for changing me like this, B. Didn't think this would ever happen or happen so quickly."

I didn't think so either, but I don't tell her that. I don't want to break the spell we've fallen into since she woke up from her coma. Life is pretty unexpected sometimes and it takes looking just over the horizon to find something you've been looking for your entire life in the last person you ever expected to find it with. Life is a whirlwind and things happen so quickly it's hard to process it all at once. Falken really did end up being a catalyst of sorts for Faith and I. Although the events of the last month have destroyed what little of a relationship I had with Satsu, I'm starting to see beyond what we had, beyond what Faith and I can have. I can see the whole picture now and I can't wait to start living the rest of my life with Faith at my side, fighting the good fight and facing whatever evil comes along next.

I might be getting ahead with myself with the whole 'rest of my life' thoughts, but if anything has been proven to me in the last three days alone, anything is possible and anything can happen, even the least unexpected things in life. Falling in love with Faith and making her mine being just one of many.

The End